Once upon a time, there was a magical place called MTV where all the music videos would play and be merry. Indeed, those days are long gone, but the Internet isn’t such a bad replacement, eh? Where else could we view eerie footage of our childhood homes set to the tune of an Arcade Fire jam? Or submit a tweet to be featured in a Robyn video? These days, some of the most enjoyable music videos are interactive — the ones that take you on a delightful ride through a personalized audio-visual experience. Click through for a selection of interactive music videos by Cold War Kids, Broken Bells, Tanlines, and more, and hit the comments to let us know what you made OK Go spell with their bodies.
Arcade Fire — “We Used to Wait”
Click here for the interactive Arcade Fire music video
Arcade Fire’s interactive “We Used To Wait” music video uses Google Maps to channel our childhoods. It’s awesomely bizarre. Were we the only ones who secretly hoped it would end like this?
Tanlines — “Brothers”
Last week, Tanlines released their “Brothers” music video with a little help from GoPano, an iPhone app that allows for 360° video footage. Click and drag to do some room snooping.
Cold War Kids — “I’ve Seen Enough”
Click here for the interactive Cold War Kids video
Cold War Kids’ video for “I’ve Seen Enough” lets us pick which instruments are involved, fine-tuning the music experience to our acoustic or electric liking. Pretty nifty, eh?
Broken Bells — “October”
Click here for the interactive Broken Bells video
Guide the cursor through Broken Bells’ trippy “October” music video for an interactive visualizer.
OK Go — “All Is Not Lost”
Click here for the interactive OK Go music video
OK Go’s “All Is Not Lost” video is yet another Google Chrome experiment that uses our “message” to determine the band’s choreography.
Red Hot Chili Peppers — “Look Around”
In this “Look Around” music video, a viewer can click and drag the cursor from room to room to view the antics of any given Red Hot Chili Pepper.
Robyn — “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do”
Click here for the interactive Robyn music video
The online music video for Robyn’s “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do” is a little different from the others — in order to contribute to the video, a viewer must post a tweet with the hash-tag #killingme. Then, the message will pop up with the others in the latter half of the song.
Rome — “Black”
Click here for the interactive Rome music video
Rome, the 2011 collaboration between producer Danger Mouse and composer Daniele Luppi, released a mind-blowing video for “Black” with some help from Chris Milk, the mastermind behind the aforementioned “We Used to Wait” music video. Make sure you hit up Google Chrome for this one, folks.
Placebo — “The Never-Ending Why”
Click here for the interactive Placebo music video
Placebo’s music video for “The Never-Ending Why” lets the viewer control a flying peacock. What more could you want?
Sour — “Mirror”
Click here for the interactive Sour music video
Kick back and relax as the music video for Sour’s “Mirror” takes over your desktop for a few minutes.
Ellie Goulding — “Lights”
Click here for the interactive Ellie Goulding music video
Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” video is the ultimate psychedelic point-and-click experience. Enjoy as pretty colors ensue.
Arcade Fire — “Sprawl II”
Click here for another interactive Arcade Fire music video
Have you ever wanted to see your face in a creep-tastic Arcade Fire music video? “Sprawl II” is your chance!
New Girl
Click here for the interactive New Girl music video
To promote New Girl, Fox created a choose-your-own-adventure music video starring Zooey D. and the TV gang.
Arcade Fire — “Neon Bible”
Click here for yet another interactive Arcade Fire music video
In this interactive video for “Neon Bible,” Win Butler’s hands are yours to control. Use them wisely.